No Drone Zone: FAA reminds tourists skies over DC are restricted

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is launching a campaign to remind tourists and residents of Washington, DC that the US capital is a “no drone zone.” Washington airspace has been restricted for years, since the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

“Federal rules prohibit any aircraft from operating in the
Flight Restricted Zone,” the airspace in a 15-mile radius of
the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, without specific
approval, the FAA said in a statement Wednesday. Drones are included in
this definition, said the agency, adding that “violators face
stiff fines and criminal penalties.”

The restricted area, also known as “national defense
airspace,” was established after the 2001 terrorist attacks
involving hijacked commercial aircraft. Presumably,
government-operated drones cleared by the FAA would be able to
operate in the zone without issues.

The FAA’s reminder comes as pricing and technological advances
have put small, remotely-controlled flying machines within the
reach of the general public. Popular “quad-copter” drones are
frequently used for photography or filming.

In January, one such machine crashed onto the White House grounds. An employee
with the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), part of
the Department of Defense, later confessed to flying the DHI
Phantom quad-copter while intoxicated and losing control of it
somewhere over the White House.

Secret Service agents put the entire grounds on lockdown and
found the drone after several hours of searching.

The FAA is using the hashtag “#NoDroneZone” to promote its
initiative in social media and has provided a digital media kit
on its No Drone Zone webpage, including images designed for social media
as well as printable templates for physical handouts.

Businesses seeking to use drone technology for deliveries have
long criticized the FAA’s restrictive regulations and snail-like
pace of approving any permissions and exemptions. Online retail
giant Amazon has resorted to testing its “Prime Air” service in Canada because it
could not get FAA approval for US operations. By the time the
agency approved Amazon’s original proposal, the company said,
regulators had taken so long to reply that the technology named
in the application was already obsolete.